Roundabout.



C.'W. KRATHWOHL.

ROUNDABOUT.

APPHCIaTION FILED JULY 25.1917.

Patented Jan. 29, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

wuambo z c. w. KRATHWOHL.

ROUNDABOUT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25.19n.

' Patented. Jan. 29, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ROUNDABOUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Fatented Jan. 29, 1918.

Application filed July 25, 1917. Serial No. 182,705.

T0 at? whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. KRATH- WOHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Roundabouts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus of the roundabout type and has for its object to provide novel and improved means whereby the revolving part carrying the riders is propelled by the occupants thereof, and also to provide novel mounting and frame construction, whereby a rigid structure is produced, and one which is simple, and which can be readily taken down and set up, and also taken apart for convenience in shipment and storage.

The object stated is attained by means of a combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that the same may be better understood,

reference is bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a leg fastening, the parts being shown separated, and

Fig. 5 1s a perspective view of a driving means.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 10 denotes an upright shaft which is supported by a stand and carries a revolving frame provided with seats 11 which are occupied by the persons using the apparatus. The stand is composed of four legs 12 abutting at their inner ends against and extending radially from the lower end of the shaft. A sleeve 13 is fitted over this end of the shaft and is fastened thereto by a transverse bolt 14, and the lower end of this sleeve has wings 15 which fit between the inner ends of the legs. On the bottom of the shaft is fastened, by a screw 16, a plate 17 which fits up against the under side of the legs at their inner ends. Above the sleeve, and seating on the top edge thereof, is a plate 18 having upturned ears 19 to which are connected the inner ends of brace rods 20 which extend radially outward and are connected at their outer ends to the legs near the outer ends thereof. The legs are also braced by rods 21 extending crosswise therebetween. Upon disconnecting the brace rods and removing the sleeve 13 and the plates 17 and 18, the stand can be taken apart and stored or shipped in compact form.

The revolving frame carried by the shaft 10 is composed of two vertically spaced plates 22 carrying four radially extending arms at the outer ends on which latter are mounted the seats 11. Each arm is composed of two laterally spaced angle bars 23 converging toward their outer ends, between which latter is mounted a spacer block 24 secured by bolts 25. The seat 11 is secured to the spacer block. Brace rods 26 extend between the top plate 22 and the spacer blocks, the latter'having downturned ears 27 to which the outer ends of the brace rods are connected. The plates 22 are connected in spaced relation by posts 28 which also pass through the inner ends of the bars 23 and thus serve to secure the latter to the bottom plate 22. p

The shaft 10 is stationary and passes centrally through the plates 22, and the latter are rotatably mounted on the shaft. A shoulder 29 engaging the under side of the top plate 22 holds the two plates against vertical movement on the shaft. As the plates 22 carry the seat supporting bars 23 and are rotatable, said plate and bars form a wheel-like structure and the seats 11 revolve about the shaft 10. This structure is also removable from the shaft for convenience in shipment and storage.

The wheel-like seat supporting frame hereinbefore described is put in motion by the occupants of the seats 11, the following means being provided for this purpose:

Journaled 1n the lates 22 is a shaft 30 which extends paral el to the shaft 10. On the shaft 30 is fast a pinion 31 which is in mesh with a spur gear 32 fast on the shaft 10. Above the top plate 22, the shaft 30 is fitted with a crank 33. Adjacent to each seat 11, and in front thereof is a lever composed of two parallel bars 34 fulcrumed intermediate their ends on a cross bolt 35 carried by the bars 23. Above the'bars 23 the lever is fitted with a handle bar 36, and below said bars the lever is fitted with a foot rest 37. Each lever is connected by a pitman 38 to the crank 33, the lever bars 34 carrying cross bolts 39 to which the pitmen are connected, and the connections being made above the fulcrum 35 of the levers,

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the levers 3-1 are operated by the occupants of the seats 11, the shaft 30 is rotated through the crank 33, causing the pinion 31 to roll around the gear 32, and as the shaft 10 carrying the gear 32 is stationary and the gear is fixed on the shaft, the wheel-like seat carrying the frame revolves about the shaft 10. The pinion 31 and the gear 32 serve to reduce the speed at which the frame revolves. The levers are operated by the hands and feet of the occupants of the seats.

I claim: 1. A roundabout comprising a rotatable seat-carrying frame composed of vertically spaced plates and seatsupporting arms extending radially therefrom, a stationary shaft on which the plates are rotatably mounted, a spur gear fast on said shaft, a shaft journaled in the aforesaid plates, a

pinion fast on the last-mentioned shaft and meshing with the spur gear, a crank on the pinion shaft, manually operable levers earried by the aforesaid arms, and pitman connections between the levers and the crank.

2. A roundabout comprising a stationary shaft, a sleeve carried by said shaft and having outturned wings at its lower end, legs abutting at their inner ends against the shaft and seating thereat between the wings, a plate secured to the lower end of the shaft and engaging the under side of the legs at the inner ends thereof, braces extending between the sleeve and the outer ends of the legs, braces connecting the legs, and a rotatable seat-carrying frame mounted on the shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES W. KRATHWOHL 

